4. Academic Policies and Procedures

The Measurement and Evaluation Center coordinates University testing programs, including examinations for course credit and placement, and serves as a test center for many examinations offered on a worldwide basis, including the College Level Examination Program, the Graduate Record Examinations, the Graduate Management Admission Test, the Law School Admissions Test, the Miller Analogies test, the PRAXIS Series (Professional Assessment for Beginning Teachers), the Test of English as a Foreign Language, and the Texas Academic Skills Program. Information about academic placement and credit by examination as well as worldwide test programs is available at http://www.utexas.edu/academic/mec/, at the center at 2616 Wichita, or by mail at P O Box 7246, Austin, Texas 78713-7246; (512) 232-2662, fax (512) 471-3509. When writing for information, please include a daytime telephone number.

In addition to administering testing programs, the Measurement and Evaluation Center conducts studies to evaluate the effectiveness of the University in achieving the goals of its educational programs. The center assists faculty members with the construction, processing, and analysis of tests and other measuring instruments, with system design and data processing services involving automatic document scanning, and with related data processing activities. By means of Course-Instructor Surveys, the center enables faculty members to obtain student opinions of their courses and their teaching methods.

Procedures for adding and dropping courses are given in the Course Schedule. Each student is responsible for properly initiating and completing adds and drops.

Adding Courses

The addition of a course is governed by the following requirements: (1) the student must obtain all required approvals; (2) the student must be eligible to take the course and there must be space available in the course; and (3) the student must remain in conformity with the quantity of work rule given in the section Quantity of Work Rule.

Subject to these requirements, a registered student may add a course through the twelfth class day of a long-session semester or the fourth class day of a summer term. Through the fourth class day of the semester or the second class day of the summer term, the approval of the chair of the department offering the course may be required; after these dates the approval of the chair is required. In some colleges and schools, the approval of the student's adviser and dean are also required. The student must consult the regulations of his or her college or school before adding a course.

Although a college or school may permit the addition of courses through the twelfth class day of the semester or the fourth class day of a summer term, the student is expected to be settled in his or her courses by the fourth class day of the semester or the second class day of the summer term. After the twelfth class day of a long-session semester or the fourth class day of a summer term, the student may add a course only in rare and extenuating circumstances as approved by the student's dean and the chair of the department offering the course.

Dropping Courses: Rules for Undergraduate Students

Subject to the conditions below, an undergraduate may drop a course through the midsemester deadline in a long-session semester or the last class day in a summer term; the midsemester deadline is given in the official academic calendar. The student must remain in conformity with the quantity of work rule given in the section Quantity of Work Rule and must obtain all required approvals.

Dropping a course through the twelfth class day. The following rules apply from the first class day through the twelfth class day of a long-session semester and from the first class day through the fourth class day of a summer term.

To drop a course during this period, the student must have the approval of the chair of the department offering the course. In some colleges and schools, the student must also have the approval of his or her adviser and dean; each student must consult the regulations of his or her college or school. If the student is allowed to drop the course, the course is deleted from his or her academic record and applicable fees are refunded.

Normally, the approval of the chair of the department during this period is routine, and the student may initiate the drop through the registration system. However, in some circumstances a department may disapprove requests to drop certain courses. If a drop request is not accepted by the registration system, the student should consult the department that offers the course for more information.

Dropping a course through the fourth week of classes. The following rules apply from the thirteenth class day through the twentieth class day of a long-session semester and from the fifth class day through the tenth class day of a summer term.

To drop a course during this period, the student must have the approval of his or her dean. In some colleges and schools, the approval of the student's adviser is also required; each student must consult the regulations of his or her college or school. If the student is allowed to drop the course, the symbol Q appears on his or her academic record to indicate a drop without academic penalty. No refund is given.

Dropping a course after the fourth week of classes. The following rules apply from the twenty-first class day through the midsemester deadline in a long-session semester and from the eleventh class day through the last class day of a summer term.

To drop a course during this period, the student must have the approval of the instructor, the student's adviser, and the student's dean. If the instructor approves the drop, he or she will assign the symbol Q or a grade of F. The symbol Q indicates that the student has a grade of at least C in the course, that no grade has yet been assigned, or that no academic penalty is in order because of the student's performance and the nature of the course. In compelling circumstances, the student's dean may assign the symbol Q for nonacademic reasons.

Dropping a course after midsemester. After the midsemester deadline for dropping courses in a long-session semester, an undergraduate may not drop a course except with the approval of his or her dean and then only for urgent and substantiated, nonacademic reasons.

International students must obtain written permission from the International Office, in addition to other required approvals, to drop a course.

On the recommendation of the instructor, and with the approval of the student's academic dean, a student may be required to drop a course at any time because of neglect or for lack of preparation.

Dropping Courses: Rules for Graduate Students

With the required approvals, a graduate student may drop a course through the last class day of the semester or summer term; after the twelfth class day of the semester or the fourth class day of the summer term,the graduate dean's approval is also required. If the student drops the course by the twelfth class day of the semester or the fourth class day of the summer term, the course is deleted from the student's academic record and applicable fees are refunded.

If the student drops the course from the thirteenth through the twentieth class day of the long-session semester or from the fifth through the tenth class day of the summer term, the symbol Q appears on his or her academic record to indicate a drop without academic penalty. No refund is given. After these dates, the course instructor assigns the symbol Q or a grade of F. If the student is registered on the credit/no credit basis,the symbol NC will be recorded.

A student who is in warning status for failing to maintain a B average may not drop a course without the recommendation of his or her graduate adviser and the approval of the graduate dean.

International students, in addition to obtaining the required approvals, must be advised by the International Office before dropping a course if their remaining course load will be fewer than nine hours.

Students employed as assistant instructors, teaching assistants, academic assistants, assistants (graduate), and graduate research assistants may not reduce their course load to fewer than nine hours during a long-session semester or fewer than three hours in a summer session (in any combination of summer-session terms) without the written recommendation of the graduate adviser and the approval of the graduate dean.